by Oren Dorell, USA TODAY

by Oren Dorell, USA TODAY

The hostage operation in an Algerian gas facility comes during a leadership struggle in the main al-Qaeda faction operating in North Africa, analysts say.

The hostage takers, who call themselves the "Signers in Blood," say they work for Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a founder of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and who has waged an Islamist war against the Algerian state and others for more than two decades.

It is possible that "the main goal of Mokhtar Belmokhtar in this major terrorist operation was to enhance his position in the fight for the leadership of AQIM," says Ely Karmon, of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzlyia, Israel.

A State Department spokesman Friday morning said the situation is ongoing.

"The situation is extremely fluid. We are working with the government of Algeria and the governments of other affected nations to try to resolve this issue," the spokesman said, who was not authorized to speak on the record. "Given that this is a hostage situation, we are not going to get into details out of concern for the safety and security of those being held."

AQIM and its Islamist affiliates transformed last year from armed criminal enterprises operating over a wide desert region in the African Sahara into a governing force in northern Mali. Using a vast war chest built by Belmokhtar and others through kidnap for ransom, cigarette smuggling and protection rackets, it bought up weapons looted from the Libya after that country's civil war, joined with Tuareg separatists in northern Mali and overran Malian government forces in March, taking charge of an area the size of Texas.

In the last months of 2012, Belmokhtar was in conflict with AQIM's current leader Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud, also known as Abelmalek Droukdel, who refused to nominate Belmokhtar as emir, Karmon said.

In December, Belmokhtar announced the formation of a new group, Signers in Blood, says Geoff Porter of North Africa Risk Consulting.

Andrew Black, CEO of security consultancy Navanti Group who's been following Belmokhtar for years, agrees that Belmokhtar's raid is about his struggle with other Al Qaeda leaders.

"Terrorism is a tactic for provocation," Black says. "He's looking to provoke somebody, to gain power in al-Qaeda, to provoke the USA," to raise his own profile among the militants.

When the In Amenas plant was attacked, where escape was unlikely because it is a remote site in a country known for its ruthless approach to terrorism, Black said he was unsure of Belmokhtar's motive.

"At first I thought they were trying to get something, to get across the Libyan border," and seek a ransom, Black said. "Now it looks like they meant to cause a media stir."